Page 4 - Russia Ukraine Conflict

Relevance of hard power reaffirmed with Russia-Ukraine conflict: Army Chief

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has proved false the assumption of future wars being short and swift, and the relevance of "hard power" stands reaffirmed, Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande said and stressed on indigenisation of defence production and technological development. In his address at the 'PHDCCI DEF X TECH INDIA 2023' on Wednesday, he warned about the "legacy of unsettled borders" that India has and highlighted the "grey-zone aggression" concept, saying it is increasingly becoming a preferred strategy for conflict resolution. "The current Russia-Ukraine conflict provides some very valuable pointers. The relevance of hard power stands reaffirmed with land continuing to be the decisive domain of warfare and notion of victory still being land centric," he said while talking about the lessons learnt from the conflict. "The suppositions on duration of war I think needs to be reevaluated. Short, swift war which we have been talking of for some time now may prove to be a false ...

World Bank puts cost of rebuilding Ukraine at $411 billion over next decade

A World Bank report released Wednesday puts the cost of Ukraine's recovery and rebuilding from Russia's invasion at $411 billion over the next decade, with the cost of cleaning up the war rubble alone at $5 billion. The report details some of the toll of Russia's war in Ukraine: at least 9,655 civilians confirmed dead, including 461 children; nearly 2 million homes damaged; more than one out of five public health institutions damaged; and 650 ambulances damaged or looted. In all, the World Bank calculated $135 billion in direct damage to buildings and infrastructure so far, not counting broader economic damage. The damage would be even worse if not for the strong defense mounted by the Ukrainian forces, Anna Bjerde, the World Bank vice president for Europe and Central Asia, noted in a call with reporters. She said the worst damage has been confined to the front-line regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Kherson. As it is, the World Bank said, Russia's invasion has undone 15 year

Ukranian President posts video claiming Russian missile hit apartment

Ukraine's president posted a video on Wednesday showing what he said was a Russian missile slamming into an apartment building in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. The video appears to be CCTV footage that captures the moment the missile hits the nine-story residential block by a busy road. Ukrainian media carried pictures of the affected apartment buildings, showing charred apartments on several stories and flames billowing from one of them. The number of causalities was unknown. However, Vladimir Rogov, an official with the Moscow-appointed regional administration for the Russia-occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, claimed the building was hit by a Ukrainian air defence missile that was launched to intercept a Russian missile.

Japan's Kishida, Zelenskyy hold talks on wide-ranging issues in Kyiv

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held bilateral talks in Kyiv on Tuesday and discussed wide-ranging issues as they condemned Russian aggression

China's Xi Jinping, Japan's Fumio Kishida end visits to Russia and Ukraine

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has left Moscow, wrapping up a three-day visit, shortly after Japanese PM Fumio Kishida left Kyiv. Kishida made a surprise visit Tuesday to Kyiv, stealing some of the attention from Xi's trip to Moscow where he promoted Beijing's peace proposal for Ukraine, which Western nations have already dismissed. Xi's visit gave a strong political boost to Russian President Vladimir Putin just days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader on charges of alleged involvement in abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. After the talks, Putin and Xi issued joint declarations pledging to further bolster their strategic cooperation, develop cooperation in energy, high-tech industries and other spheres and expand the use of their currencies in mutual trade to reduce dependence on the West. They said they would develop military cooperation and conduct more joint sea and air patrols, but there was no mention of Chinese wea

China's Xi aligns with Putin against US, but hesitates on big gas deal

Xi saw an opportunity to push back at the US and buttress his image as a global statesman after helping to broker a Saudi-Iran deal, while Putin can show he has the support

How Elon Musk's empire has made him a problem for the Biden administration

Elon Musk's unilateral decision-making, which more often than not is opposite to the official stance of the US, has caused a headache for the Biden government, and it is difficult to shrug off

Ukraine clinches $15.6 billion IMF loan, a first for nation at war

The program will be divided into two phases. In the first, lasting 12-18 months, Ukraine will take measures to strengthen fiscal, external, price and financial stability

Ukrainian Military hints hitting Russian cruise missiles in occupied Crimea

Ukraine's military intelligence agency reported what appeared to be a brazen attack late Monday on Russian cruise missiles being transported by train in the occupied and illegally annexed Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula. The region's Russian-appointed governor reported an incident in the area of the same Crimean town, Dzhankoi in the northern part of the peninsula, though he did not mention cruise missiles as an attack target. None of the reports could be independently verified. A vague statement by the Ukrainian military agency, posted on its website, said multiple Kalibr cruise missiles were destroyed by an explosion, without explicitly saying Ukraine was responsible or what weapon had been used. It said the missiles were being carried by rail and were destined for submarine launch. The agency implied the Kyiv government was responsible by saying the explosion destroying the missiles continues the process of Russia's demilitarization and prepares the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea for

Jinping to meet Putin in boost for isolated Russian leader amid allegations

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine. Xi's government gave no details of what the Chinese leader hoped to accomplish. Xi and Putin declared they had a no limits friendship before last February's attack on Ukraine, but China has tried to portray itself as neutral. Beijing called last month for a cease-fire, but Washington said that would ratify the Kremlin's battlefield gains. The Chinese government said Xi would visit Moscow from Monday to Wednesday but gave no indication when he departed. The Russian government said Xi was due to arrive at midday and meet later with Putin. China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy and a partner in opposing what both see as American domination of global affairs. The meeting gives Putin and Xi a chance to show they have powerful partners at a time of .

Japan's Kishida may seek India's aid to get tough on Russia for Ukraine war

"As leaders of the G-7 and G-20, I want us to communicate closely in an effort to strengthen cooperation," Kishida said March 10 when announcing the trip

Ukraine crisis: President Putin visits Russia-occupied port city Mariupol

During the visit, the Russian President is also reported to have met top military commanders in Rostov-on-Don city

Japan will carefully monitor investigation against Putin: PM Kishida

Japan will carefully monitor the developments of an investigation against Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday, reported Kyodo News

Vladimir Putin visits Crimea on anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine

According to Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, earlier Putin was expected to join the cultural and historical event virtually but he himself arrived at the site and gave a surprise to everyone

International Criminal Court justified in issuing warrant for Putin: Biden

US President Joe Biden said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is justified in issuing an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over allegations of war crimes

UN 'doing everything possible' for extension of Black Sea grain deal

The deal, initially in effect for 120 days, was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days to March 18

Russia will extend Ukraine grain deal for 60 days not 120, says official

On the eve of the expiration of a deal enabling Ukraine to export grain, the United Nations' humanitarian chief on Friday called its extension crucial to ensuring global food supplies and keeping prices from spiralling as they did after Russia's invasion of its smaller neighbour. Russia's U.N. ambassador reiterated that Moscow is ready to extend the deal - but only for 60 days, just half the 120 days in the agreement. Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia's briefing to the U.N. Security Council, reiterating what a Russian delegation told senior U.N. officials at a meeting in Geneva on Monday, reinforced the Kremlin's insistence on reducing the duration of the deal to hold out for changes on how the package is working. The U.N. and Turkey brokered the deal between the warring countries last July that allows Ukraine - one of the world's key breadbaskets - to ship food and fertiliser from three of its Black Sea ports. A separate memorandum of understanding between the United Nations and Russi

ICC issues arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over Ukraine war crimes

The International Criminal Court says it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine. The court said in a statement that Putin is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. It also issued a warrant on Friday for the arrest for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation on similar allegations.

Black Sea grain deal to get 120-day extension after Russia agreed: UN

The United Nations has said the Black Sea grain agreement would be extended for 120 days after Russia agreed to a 60-day extension of the deal after negotiations in Geneva, CNN reported

Poland to be 1st NATO member to give Ukraine fighter jets to defend itself

Poland said Thursday it plans to give Ukraine about a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, which would make it the first NATO member to fulfil Kyiv's increasingly urgent requests for warplanes to defend itself against the Russian invasion. Warsaw will hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes "within the next few days," President Andrzej Duda said, and the rest needed servicing but would be supplied later. The Polish word he used to describe the total number can mean between 11 and 19. "They are in the last years of their functioning, but they are in good working condition," Duda said. He did not say whether other countries would follow suit, although Slovakia has said it would send its own disused MiGs to Ukraine. Poland also was the first NATO nation to provide Ukraine with German-made Leopard 2 tanks. On Wednesday, Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said some other countries also had pledged MiGs to Kyiv, but did not identify them. Both Poland and Slovakia had indicated they were